April 18, 2011

Why Wikipedia is a poor reference source for complex issues

Wikipedia is a pretty good source of information for topics that can be conveyed across a web pages and a small set of references. But you should be always be careful in referencing Wikipedia when entering into the scientific domain. One example is around the discussion of self-organizing systems in the domain of agile software development.

The Wikipedia definition of "self organization" is:

Self-Organization is the process where a structure of pattern appears in a system without a central authority or external element imposing it through planning.

This is usually the basis of reducing planning and letting the system emerge. But Wikipedia in this case is missing a few parts. Self-organizing systems have a multitude of characteristics beyond the simple definition in Wikipedia. It is important to understand these attributes to improve the chances that any metaphors, anologies, or other attempts to make connections are actually based of credible facts.

System-ness - self-organization takes place in a system, in a coherent whole that has parts, interactions, structural relationships, behaviors, state, and a border that limits if from its environment.

Complexity - self-organizing systems are complex systems. The term complexity has three levels of meaning: (1) There is self organization and emergence in complex systems. (2) Complex systems are not organized centrally, but they are organized in a distributed manner. (3) Is it difficult to model complex systems and to predict their behaviors, even if it is known to a large extent the parts of the system and the connections of the parts.

Control parameters - a set of parameters influencing the state and behavior of the system.

Critical values - if certain critical values of the control parameters are reached, structural change takes places and the system enters a phase of instability and criticality.

Fluctuation and intensification - small disturbances from inside the systen intensify themselves and initiate the formation of order.

Nonlinearity - in a critical phase of a self organizing systems, causes and effects cannot be mapped linearly.

Bifurcation points - once a fluctuation intensifies, the system enters a critical phase where its development is relatively open, certain(not all) possible paths of development emerge, and the system has to "make a choice." This means a dialectic of necessity and chance. Bifurcation means a phase transition from stability to instability.

Selection - in a critical phase that can also be called the point of bifurcation, a selection is made between one of the several alternatives paths of development.

Emergence of order - in the critical phase (but not before), new quantities of a self-organizing system emerge. This principle is called order from chaos. A self-organizing system is more of a self-organizing system emerge: this principle is also called order from chaos or order through fluctuation. A self organizing system is more than the sum of its parts. The emergence of order includes both (1) bottom-up emergence (a perturbation that causes the system's pans to interact synergetically in such a way that at least one new quality on a higher level emerges) and (2) downward causation (once new qualities of a system have emerged, they, along with the other structural macro-aspects of the system, influence - that is enable and constrain – the behavior of the system's parts). This process can be described as a top-down emergence if new qualities of certain parts (seen as wholes or systems themselves) show up.

This is a critical missing piece for the simple and many times simplistic use of emergence metaphors and anologies. Without defining the phase transition for the system, the bounaries of the system itself, and the choices that can be made by the system - the anologies will just be handwaving.

Fault tolerance - Outside a critical phase, the structure of the system is relatively stable concerning local disturbances and a change of boundary conditions.

Openness - can only take place if the system imports entropy that is transformed as a result, energy is exported or dissipated.

Symmetry breaking -The emerging structures have less symmetry than the foundational laws of the system.

Inner conditionality - self-organizing systems are influenced by their inner conditions and the boundary conditions from their environment.

Relative chance - is a dialectic of chance and necessity in self-organizing systems: cer1ain aspects are determined, whereas others arc relatively open and subject to chance.

Hierarchy - the self organization of complex systems produces a hierarchy in two distinctive senses: (1) The level of emergence is a hierarchically higher level-Ihm is, il has additional. new emergent qualities that cannot be found on the lower level that contains the components. The upper level is sublation (Aufhebung in Ihe Hegelian sense of the term) of Ihe lower level. (2) Self organization results in an evolutionary hierarchy of different system types: these types are hierarchically ordered in the sense that upper levels are more complex and have additional emergent qualities.

Globalization and Localization - bottom-up emergence means the globalizing sublation of local entities; downward causation means the localization of more global quantities.

With these characteristics, metaphors can be built that relate to actual processes be observed. But the simple - and possibly simple minded - definition from Wikipedia just creates more fog.

The critical outcome of this approach to to move away from the physics, biology, and other hard sciences annologies, and move to to social systems. The references for these social sciences approach start here.

Comments

Why Wikipedia is a poor reference source for complex issues

Wikipedia is a pretty good source of information for topics that can be conveyed across a web pages and a small set of references. But you should be always be careful in referencing Wikipedia when entering into the scientific domain. One example is around the discussion of self-organizing systems in the domain of agile software development.

The Wikipedia definition of "self organization" is:

Self-Organization is the process where a structure of pattern appears in a system without a central authority or external element imposing it through planning.

This is usually the basis of reducing planning and letting the system emerge. But Wikipedia in this case is missing a few parts. Self-organizing systems have a multitude of characteristics beyond the simple definition in Wikipedia. It is important to understand these attributes to improve the chances that any metaphors, anologies, or other attempts to make connections are actually based of credible facts.

System-ness - self-organization takes place in a system, in a coherent whole that has parts, interactions, structural relationships, behaviors, state, and a border that limits if from its environment.

Complexity - self-organizing systems are complex systems. The term complexity has three levels of meaning: (1) There is self organization and emergence in complex systems. (2) Complex systems are not organized centrally, but they are organized in a distributed manner. (3) Is it difficult to model complex systems and to predict their behaviors, even if it is known to a large extent the parts of the system and the connections of the parts.

Control parameters - a set of parameters influencing the state and behavior of the system.

Critical values - if certain critical values of the control parameters are reached, structural change takes places and the system enters a phase of instability and criticality.

Fluctuation and intensification - small disturbances from inside the systen intensify themselves and initiate the formation of order.

Nonlinearity - in a critical phase of a self organizing systems, causes and effects cannot be mapped linearly.

Bifurcation points - once a fluctuation intensifies, the system enters a critical phase where its development is relatively open, certain(not all) possible paths of development emerge, and the system has to "make a choice." This means a dialectic of necessity and chance. Bifurcation means a phase transition from stability to instability.

Selection - in a critical phase that can also be called the point of bifurcation, a selection is made between one of the several alternatives paths of development.

Emergence of order - in the critical phase (but not before), new quantities of a self-organizing system emerge. This principle is called order from chaos. A self-organizing system is more of a self-organizing system emerge: this principle is also called order from chaos or order through fluctuation. A self organizing system is more than the sum of its parts. The emergence of order includes both (1) bottom-up emergence (a perturbation that causes the system's pans to interact synergetically in such a way that at least one new quality on a higher level emerges) and (2) downward causation (once new qualities of a system have emerged, they, along with the other structural macro-aspects of the system, influence - that is enable and constrain – the behavior of the system's parts). This process can be described as a top-down emergence if new qualities of certain parts (seen as wholes or systems themselves) show up.

This is a critical missing piece for the simple and many times simplistic use of emergence metaphors and anologies. Without defining the phase transition for the system, the bounaries of the system itself, and the choices that can be made by the system - the anologies will just be handwaving.

Fault tolerance - Outside a critical phase, the structure of the system is relatively stable concerning local disturbances and a change of boundary conditions.

Openness - can only take place if the system imports entropy that is transformed as a result, energy is exported or dissipated.

Symmetry breaking -The emerging structures have less symmetry than the foundational laws of the system.

Inner conditionality - self-organizing systems are influenced by their inner conditions and the boundary conditions from their environment.

Relative chance - is a dialectic of chance and necessity in self-organizing systems: cer1ain aspects are determined, whereas others arc relatively open and subject to chance.

Hierarchy - the self organization of complex systems produces a hierarchy in two distinctive senses: (1) The level of emergence is a hierarchically higher level-Ihm is, il has additional. new emergent qualities that cannot be found on the lower level that contains the components. The upper level is sublation (Aufhebung in Ihe Hegelian sense of the term) of Ihe lower level. (2) Self organization results in an evolutionary hierarchy of different system types: these types are hierarchically ordered in the sense that upper levels are more complex and have additional emergent qualities.

Globalization and Localization - bottom-up emergence means the globalizing sublation of local entities; downward causation means the localization of more global quantities.

With these characteristics, metaphors can be built that relate to actual processes be observed. But the simple - and possibly simple minded - definition from Wikipedia just creates more fog.

The critical outcome of this approach to to move away from the physics, biology, and other hard sciences annologies, and move to to social systems. The references for these social sciences approach start here.